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Altamura, a distinguished genre actor, was renowned for his numerous roles in Italian spaghetti westerns, peplum, and swashbuckling adventure films throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Born and raised in Rome as the son of a military officer, he received his education at the prestigious Liceo Classico, where he studied Latin, history, literature, and philosophy. After graduating, he began working as a part-time animator and freelance journalist. He also performed voice acting on radio before making his film debut in 1954. His first stage role came seven years later in a production of Sacco and Vanzetti, where he starred alongside Gian Maria Volontè.
On screen, Altamura was frequently cast as characters of authority and dignity, such as aristocrats, senators, governors, priests, scientists, and bankers. He sometimes used the pseudonym 'Tor Altmayer.' Many of his films featured international tough-guy actors like Gordon Mitchell (Atlas Against the Cyclops, 1961), Gordon Scott (Hero of Rome, 1964), Lex Barker (Pirates of the Coast, 1960), Guy Madison (Women of Devil's Island, 1962), and Pierre Brice (Invincible Masked Rider, 1963). He also often appeared alongside Italian-American bodybuilder Mark Forest in several Hercules films. Some of Altamura’s notable roles include the Babylonian king Assur in Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon (1964), the playwright and philosopher Seneca in the comedy Le calde notti di Poppea (1969), police chief Ostermeyer in the giallo thriller A Black Veil for Lisa (1968), and 'Peter' in the Italo-western Blood for a Silver Dollar (1965), a film that firmly established Giuliano Gemma as a leading figure in the genre.
Later in his career, Altamura worked as a documentary filmmaker and received an award at the Salerno Film Festival in the early 1970s for his documentary Itinerario differente.
